A FORMER Liverpool security boss who found fame in a TV documentary was today facing jail after being convicted in a £2.75m cannabis plot.

Desmond Bayliss, 40, from Toxteth, was among 11 men convicted of the major drugs racket uncovered on a Staffordshire farm.

Bayliss landed a string of acting jobs after appearing in a controversial Channel 4 drama-documentary, Shooters, in 2000.

The former owner of The Lounge nightclub, who used to work on the doors of The Arena and Modo, starred alongside Ray Winstone and former Heartbeat and Eastenders actor Nick Berry in his acting heyday.

But he was found to be working on the Castle Bytham cannabis farm when police raided it last year and was convicted by a jury at Stafford Crown Court this week.

The investigation uncovered a complex set-up in huge barns at the farm with a potential annual cannabis yield worth around £2.75m.

As well as more than 800 cannabis plants, officers discovered 1,600 empty buckets prepared for drug cultivation.

The gang had ploughed around £1.4m into the barns to convert them installing generators, fans, lighting and ventilation equipment.

The investigation, led by Staffordshire Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit, saw the farm’s owner, Iain Brown, 60, from Chichester, Sussex, convicted of conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis alongside Bayliss and nine others who will all be sentenced at a later date.

“This organised crime group, who had criminal links nationwide, was setting up one of the country’s biggest cannabis factory set-ups.

“They would meet on a car park off the A38 at Barton under Needwood before travelling to the farm.

“Excellent work by officers from our Serious and Organised Crime Unit meant we were able to thwart the enterprise in its early stages.

“There is no doubt several of these offenders were living lavish lifestyles funded by drug crime. Significant amounts of cash were seized during the arrest operation and we will now use the Proceeds of Crime Act to strip them of every pound possible.”